La Belle Province (restaurant)

La Belle Province (English: The Beautiful Province) is a well-known fast food restaurant chain in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is also known as La Belle Pro, Belle Pro, or La Belle as nicknames. Each location is independently franchised; some are open 24 hours a day.

Kivetos' ownership group had 45 locations in 1997. By 1999 there were 125 locations under the name La Belle Province. It is not strictly a franchise operation, in 1999 there were six different ownership groups, mostly relatives of Kivetos.[2]

In 2010, two restaurant owners were fined $22,000 for failure to pay the Goods and Services Tax and were charged an additional $45,000 for the amount that they owed.[3]

In the early 2000s, a location opened in Oakville, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto, in hopes of taking advantage of the influx of former Montrealers living in the area. The restaurant later closed.

A Quebec judge ruled that the La Belle Province franchise owners could not prevent others from giving a similar name to their restaurants, because "la belle province" is an official nickname for the province of Quebec.[citation needed] This resulted in several knock-off franchises that had menus and prices similar to the original franchise in order to capitalize on its existing image and marketing.[citation needed] Notable knock-offs include Belle Province II, La Plus Belle Province, La Belle Québécoise and La Très Belle Province.[citation needed]

^Delean, Mark (1997-03-24). "Fries, two dogs and a Coke: By keeping their business simple, Lafleur's and La Belle Province continue to expand while some of their fast-food rivals are in retreat". The Gazette. pp. C8.